The Princess and the Pauper
by Kanomi-Fro
Summary: Inuyasha's just some poor kid, houseboy at the Higurashi mansion.When Kagome returns from boarding school, will sparks fly?Will Kagome heal him of his tragic past?What will she do when her sister, Kikyo, turns out to be a part of it? InuxKag MirxSan Kikx?
1. Chapter 1

Ok, I know some of you want to wring my neck for taking this down (not to be conceited of my own work, because this is a really sucky chapter), but I'm bringing it back! So, please FORGIVE ME!

But, you MUST know that I love you all, because I had ALL the names changed and everything, but then I went back and had to change them ALL back to Inuyasha's characters! Yes, the idea I had for a real story evolved into something much less cliché and so much more different than this one, so I'm putting it back up, so PLEASE forgive me!

Inuyasha poured the laundry detergent into the washer, and loaded the Higurashis' "unmentionables" into it. He never pictured himself washing rich peoples' underpants at fifteen years old, to make sure he had a place to sleep and food on the table.

But with his parents dead, it was just about his only choice. He couldn't find any other jobs that got him food and a place to sleep… He was allowed to live and eat there, as long as he did a good job cooking for them, washing their clothes, cleaning their house, and doing some of the yard work.

The Higurashis could have gotten better "help" than him, but they took pity, since he had nowhere else to go.

"Inuyashaaaa!" he heard Ms. Higurashi scream. He ran downstairs to the main room.

"What is it?" he asked her and Mr. Higurashi, who were seated on the couch.

"We need you to make sure that the bedroom across from yours is good and clean. Our baby's coming home from boarding school to live with us again!" Ms. Higurashi cried, happily. Inuyasha nodded and headed back upstairs.

He'd heard lots about their daughter, Kagome. He had begun working there, right when she left again after spring break.

_Flashback: _

_Inuyasha walked into the kitchen to start on dinner. He was surprised to see Mrs. Higurashi crying by the stove. _

"_Are…are you okay?" he asked her, gently. _

"_Yes, I'm f…fine" she muttered, while still crying "Oh, my baby left again! We offered to let Kagome stay home, for the third time, and she still doesn't want to come back!" _

_Inuyasha nodded, sympathetically. He couldn't think of anything comforting to say to a mother who's child rejected her, so he just patted her shoulder, acting like he understood. _

"_Umm… If you don't mind me asking, why did she leave off in the first place?" he asked. _

"_Our Kagome always wanted to go to a boarding school, and when we finally had enough money, we sent her off " her mother explained "And she was only going to be gone for a year, but she doesn't want to leave, and its not a money issue, because we're obviously fine in that area" she said quickly, Inuyasha would've rolled his eyes if she wasn't crying, and she resumed, "But she just doesn't want to come back home!"_

"_Well, it sounds like she doesn't have problems with you people, she just really loves it there. So it's not you" he said, trying to cheer her up._

"_Thanks" she sniffled, and started walking out. _

So, Inuyasha knew all about Kagome, and the distress she caused her parents. He was expecting some spoiled princess to come home.

He walked upstairs, and into the room across from his. He expected it to be a fairly easy job to clean up since she hadn't been there in a while. But it turned out that the princess left it pretty messy, from when she was there on spring break. It occurred to Inuyasha that maybe he was supposed to clean it up before, but nothing had ever been mentioned to him.

The sheets, and pillows, and covers (which were solids of pink and orange) were all tangled together and some were on the floor. Her desk was a mess of pencil shavings and crumpled up papers. Her carpet had some of the pencil shaving, dirt, and a little dirt all over it.

Inuyasha sighed. _His _room was cleaner than this pigsty! He took her sheets, pillow cases, and covers down to the laundry room first. Most of them were on the floor, so they had that dirt all over them.

He figured that cold water was best for the fragile material. And he got scared that he knew so much about this stuff. He had definitely been at that job too long. He loaded it all into the washing machine (I don't care if that's illogical) and turned it on.

A.N.: I know absolutely nothing about washing clothes, so if the stuff I wrote above doesn't makes sense, sry.

He went back up to her room, and tried to think of some quick ways to clean everything up. He took a trash bag, and absent mindedly scraped everything off her desk into it. Luckily, there was nothing un-trash-worthy on top of it, except maybe a couple nice pens.

He scraped most of the stuff off the floor into trash bag. The floor still had dirt on it, so he went downstairs to get the vacuum. He took it upstairs and ran it over her carpet. He still just couldn't believe that she trashed her room so bad. Maybe Souta had been in there…

Inuyasha looked over the room. It looked exceptional, except for the covers that were still in the washer.

A.N. Pffffft. I cant even believe I just wrote that much about someone doing laundry!

"I see the limo, I see the limo! Our Kagome's home!" he heard Ms. Higurashi squealing, and then he heard her high-heels scurrying over to the door. And then Mr. Higurashi's heavy footsteps slowly walking over to the door.

"Inuyasha, come get Kagome's bags for her!" Mr. Higuashi yelled.

"Kay!" Inuyasha yelled back, as he ran down the stairs. He got outside, and saw _two_ girls getting out of the car. He knew that one of them had to be Kagome, but who was the other one?

"Umm… Kikyo, honey, what are you doing back?" Ms. Higurashi asked. Inuyasha took it this was their other daughter, as he lifted their bags up and started back towards the house. _Man, these are HEAVY!_ he thought _What all do you need for boarding school?_ He wondered.

"They thought my intellectual status was too high for a school like that," Kagome said, nodding her head.

"Ha ha ha! Very funny! She got kicked out," Kagome explained.

"Kikyo! You got kicked out of ANOTHER school? We sent you there to straiten you out!" Ms. Higurashi exclaimed.

"That went well," Kagome said, sarcastically. Her Father shot her a look. Inuyasha was getting interested, but something told him he didn't belong there at that very moment, so he went into the house to put their things away.

He knew where Kagome's room was, but where was "Kikyo's"? He set the bags that had Kagome's name on them in her room, and just assumed the rest of them were Kikyo's.

He ran back downstairs, and asked them "Where's Kikyo's room?"

"Kikyo's room is in the attic. There should be a cord to pull the ladder down somewhere in the hallway where your and Kagome's room is," Ms. Higurashi explained.

"M'kay," Inuyasha said as he picked up the bags, about to go back in.

"Who's this?" Kagome asked, politely.

"This is Inuyasha," Ms. Higurashi said "He's our…our…" she stuttered, trying to think of a word that sounded better than houseboy "He's our…"

"Man-maid?" Kikyo offered, with a smirk on her face. Inuyasha stopped in the doorway, and turned around with an arched eyebrow. He had several snide remarks ready for a comment like that, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to lose this job. Instead, he just shot her a death look.

"Kikyo! Don't be so rude!" Mr. Higurashi said.

"Oooo, did I make the wittle house-boy angwy? I'm sowwee" she said, as if she was talking to a baby. _Shit_ Inuyasha thought _She's one of THOSE people._ Inuyasha was literally clenching his teeth to keep himself from calling her a bitch.

"Kikyo, that's enough!" Mr. Higurashi said, sternly.

"What? I wasn't trying to be mean. I think it's perfectly normal that a _boy like him _be employed as the _help_," Kikyo said, still smirking. Inuyasha was getting really pissed. He was also wondering if his financial situation was that obvious by the way he dressed. Inuyasha simply picked up her bags and started turning around to head back into the house. Before he started back in, he saw Kagome mouthing 'Sorry about the bitch!' He smiled at her and headed back in.

He wasn't exactly sure how this would all turn out.

Ok, I'm SOOOOO sorry I took this down. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Now, you know I wuv u all! SO WUV ME BACK AND _REVIEW_!

Yours semi-truly,

Kanomi-Fro.


	2. Chapter 2

"Soutaaaaa!" Kagome cried, as she pulled her little brother into a hug "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too, sis," Souta said replied, not quite as enthusiastically. Kagome pulled out of the hug, and started walking upstairs.

Souta started walking towards Kikyo, with open arms, but immediately stopped when she gave him that "Wtf?" look. He rolled his eyes, and walked out of the room.

This had been a couple days ago. Now we're back to the present.

Of course, by now, Kagome must've become at least a little interested in the boy that was apparently living with them. And who had dog ears and yellow eyes…

"Mom, Daddy, I'm meeting up with Jessica, I'll be back by twelve," Kikyo stated to her parents. Her parents remembered Jessica. She was her little punk friend, with purple streaked hair, that they suspected drank and smoked a lot. They weren't sure exactly what she was smoking… They also suspected that she was one of the many bad influences that had made them have to send Kikyo off to many different boarding schools, hoping to "straiten her out". So far, none had done the trick!

"No, you won't, young lady!" Mr. Higurashi said. Kikyo raised an eyebrow, as if saying, "What makes you think that?"

Kikyo was very good at telling people things without saying anything.

"You were kicked out of school! Your grounded!" Mr. Higurashi said, sternly.

"Fine, I'll be back by ten-thirty!" Kikyo offered.

"No! You're not going out at all!" Ms. Higurashi demanded.

"Oh, yes I am!" Kikyo replied.

"No, your NOT, and that's final!" Mr. Higurashi commanded. Kikyo grumbled, pulling the string to the attic down, muttering something about unfair bastards. _Oh, well. _She thought_ I can just sneak out, later. _

"You watch your language!" Ms. Higurashi yelled, catching the bastards comment.

"_You_ watch your weight! How BIG have you gotten since I left?" Kikyo retorted. Ms. Higurashi sighed, deciding to just leave it. Besides, she knew she hadn't gained a pound! If anything, she'd lost weight!

Inuyasha was in the kitchen, getting their dinner started, when Kagome walked in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were making dinner already," she said.

"It's fine," he told her, not looking up from the pasta he was stirring on the stove. Kagome sniffed a couple times.

"You really know how to cook, don't ya?" she asked. Inuyasha nodded, he wasn't sure if this was a compliment, or another man-maid crack.

"Where'd ya learn to cook like that?" she asked. Inuyasha wasn't really sure why she was talking to him. Mr. and Ms. Higurashi, and Souta had always been nice enough to him, but they never talked to him much more than necessary.

Inuyasha furrowed his brows, as if trying to remember "I guess my mom taught me," he replied. Kagome nodded. Something about him intrigued her. She wanted to know more about him. She tried to think of more ways to make conversation.

"Do your folks live around here?" she asked. Since, he was living with them, she had assumed that he was at least eighteen or so.

"Um…No," he said, flatly. He was afraid to tell her that his parents were dead. He didn't want her to think he was some sort of charity case, living with them and everything.

"Yeah, I used to make dinner a lot when I was living here before," she said.

"Yeah? Say, how long've you been gone?" he asked her.

"About a year and a half," she replied. Inuyasha almost laughed at this. Her mother had made it sound as if Kagome had refused to come home for years, when really she'd only been gone a few months longer than a year.

"How old are you, anyway?" he asked.

"Fifteen," she replied "And you?" she asked.

"Fifteen," he said back.

Monica was surprised. She knew it wasn't her business, but she was still curious as to why he wasn't living with his parents. She had assumed he was at least eighteen or so.

"Why aren't you living with your parents?" she asked. He was silent for a moment. She looked directly at him and saw something strained in his eyes.

Inuyasha swallowed hard.

"My parents are dead," he answered quietly. He looked down and nervously continued stirring the pasta, even though it no longer needed any stirring…

_Great. Just great. _He thought, sarcastically. Now she might look at him as the charity case.

Kagome felt awful. She'd obviously hit a sore spot.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," he replied blankly. Kagome thought about making an excuse to leave, but then realized how obvious that would be, and would probably make him feel even worse.

"So, what school do you go to?" she asked, deciding that changing the subject would be the best thing to do.

"Shikon High," he answered, applying the sauce to the pasta. Kagome was relieved that the awkwardness was evaporating.

"I'm gonna be going there!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Cool," Inuyasha said, stirring the sauce with the pasta. Kagome picked up a noodle with her hand and dropped it in her mouth.

"Mmm…" she said "You're a great cook!" she said, making Inuyasha blush a little bit.

"Thanks" he muttered. He brought the plates out into the dining room and set the silverware and all that stuff. Kagome was in awe that he knew so well where everything belonged on the table.

"How can you remember how to arrange all the silverware and stuff?" she asked him.

"Pffft," he replied "I don't know how to do nothin' but fold napkins."

"Then how come everything's in the right place?" she asked, suspiciously. He smirked at her.

"What makes you think everything's in the right place?" he asked, and walked back in through the kitchen door.

At first Kagome wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that. But after the next couple nights, she realized that they knives and forks were arranged differently each time. He just made sure they were arranged the same on each person's napkin.

_I guess there are ways to get around a short term memory_ she thought one night, while she was eating the awesome desert he'd made.

She finished eating earlier than usual that night, and got up to take her plate to the kitchen.

"Kagome, you can leave your plate for Inuyasha to get later," Mr. Higurashi said, digging into the pie on his plate.

"It's ok, I'm going to my room early anyway, so I'll just take it in," she replied.

"Ok, hun, goodnight!" Ms. Higurashi said.

"G'night," Kagome replied. She now talked to Inuyasha sometimes when she saw him around the house, though he rarely had time to give her more than a nod or a smile in return, she still liked it. Their last house-person had been cold and stiff.

She walked back to the kitchen with her plate and set it in the sink. She turned around and jumped when she saw Inuyasha eating at the counter.

"Inuyasha! You scared me," she gasped.

"Yo," he replied.

It had never really occurred to her where Inuyasha was when he wasn't making dinner, or cleaning the house, or mowing the lawn. He took his last bite of the lasagna and took his plate over to the sink and started washing it off.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked him, stupidly.

"What are _you_ doing back here?" he asked, avoiding her question.

"I was just taking my plate back, since I'm going to bed a little early," Kagome replied. Inuyasha nodded, as he took her plate and started washing it off at the sink.

"G'night," she said, walking through the other room.

"Good night," he replied.

Kagome walked up the stairs to her room. For some reason, it made her sad that he ate by himself in the kitchen every night. She wondered if he ever got lonely. His parents were gone, her parents and siblings didn't pay any attention to him (except that Kikyo, gave him stupid tasks to do, just for her own entertainment. Like, insisting that there was a Frisbee on the roof and making him take a ladder to go up there and get it, when there was no Frisbee there in the first place), Kagome felt sorry for him. Even though she could tell that was exactly what he didn't want. Pity.

It was still summer, so there were lots of free days left before school started.

Kagome decided that she was going to make sure they were friends. She didn't want him eating alone anymore.

Ok, so there it is! Next chapter will be up soon! Review, please…I can't believe I just threw away 50 revies…I'M SORRYYYYYY!

**So, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! **


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, I revised this chapter a couple times because the first couple times it sucked

K, so after this chapter, I'll keep the original review replies up, just so I can honor my first reviewers. But, I deleted that portion of my chappies when I re-did this part, before, so they're not here.

Now, read! And PLEASE review! I still bang my head against the wall for throwing all those wondrous reviews away…

Kagome didn't bother to hurry with dinner, since she knew Inuyasha wasn't in the kitchen that night.

She had purposely finished early the past couple nights so she could spend a little more time with Inuyasha. She was still very interested in him. They usually talked about stupid stuff like movies and music, but they both liked it.

But tonight, he had told her before dinner that he was going out with a couple friends. Kagome was just glad he had friends, so he wasn't alone. She wasn't just curious about him anymore, she was a little worried about him. Some days he looked really deep in thought. Sometimes, he even seemed little depressed.

Anyway, her best friend, Sango, was coming to spend the night at her house after dinner. They hadn't seen each other since spring break. She said that her boyfriend was dropping her off, and wanted Kagome to meet him.

"So, Kagome, you haven't seen your little friend in a while have you?" Ms. Higurashi asked, trying to make conversation. Kagome hated her mother still calling Sango her "little friend".

"Not since spring break," Kagome answered, spooning some of the thick soup into her mouth. Usually soup never filled her up, but this gunk was on the brink of being a solid! Usually Inuyasha's dinners were good, but where had he learned to make this slop?

Kagome decided to make one of the instant meals they had in the kitchen. She was afraid she'd get sick if she ate anymore of this stuff!

"Mom, I'm heading in early," she announced. The only night she could take her time eating, her food tasted lethal!

"Ok, hun," her mom said, absent mindedly, sipping more of her wine.

"Spending more time with the half-breed, eh sis?" Kikyo asked with a smirk on her face.

"His name is Inuyasha," Kagome corrected. She knew he didn't like being called that. Even if he wasn't actually there, she still didn't like it, either.

"Kagome, what've you been doing with Inuyasha?" Ms. Higurashi asked, suspiciously. Usually, she'd pretend to be all "liberal" and act like she didn't care if her family associated with the "help", but she'd had a little too much wine.

"I don't know what they've been_ doing_, but they've been spending a lot of time together" Kikyo said, evilly. She never passed up a chance to screw over Kagome.

"I've just been talking to him because I'm bored, that's all," Kagome snarled, taking her bowl into the kitchen. That wasn't actually true. She had other options of activity, but she liked talking with Inuyasha.

The kitchen felt weird without him inside it. She opened up the cabinet doors and looked inside. There was some instant mac'n'cheese, probably Souta's. She hadn't had mac'n'cheese since she was a kid. She was curious as to how it tasted, so she poured the water in and stuck it in the microwave.

Sango would be there in an hour, so she decided to go in the living room and watched some TV while she ate. There was a "Friends" rerun on. Stupid Joey.

"KAGOMEE!" an excited girl yelled, about forty-five minutes later.

"SAAAAANGOOOO!" Kagome screamed back, running to the door. Once it opened, they embraced eachother in a tight hug.

"I missed you sooooo much!" Sango cried.

"You, too!" Kagome cried back. Then Sango pulled out.

"And this is my boyfriend, Miroku," she explained, moving aside to reveal a lecherous teenager.

"KAGOMEEEE!" Miroku screamed, mockingly, hugging Kagome. Kagome was puzzled, but then she felt his hands on her butt. She quickly pulled out and slapped him across the face.

"Don't you dare!" she yelled at him.

"MIROKU!" Sango screamed at him, giving him another slap.

"I'm sowweeee," Miroku said in a baby voice, hugging Sango, getting a hold of _her_ groove thang. Sango pulled out and punched him right in the stomach.

"Sango, my dear, why?" Miroku asked, giving her a puppy dog look.

"PERVERT!" she yelled, then turned to Kagome, "He's nice when he's not touching your ass, though" she explained. Kagome wondered what Sango saw in this lech.

Then, Kagome heard a car door shut, and someone else walking towards the house.

"I guess that's Miroku's friend," Sango said, the footsteps growing louder.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, once the person appeared in the doorway.

"You know Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, he lives here," Kagome replied.

"Ooooooohhhhhh, so these are the stuck-up rich people your said you were working for!" Miroku exclaimed "What a coincidence!"

"I never said they were stuck-up!" Inuyasha corrected, not wanting Kagome to think he was saying bad things about them.

"So, your friends with Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha shrugged and nodded. He wasn't sure if Sango was considered a friend or not, they were really just connected by Miroku.

Kagome noticed some sort of weird green stuff on Inuyasha's shirt. Apparently he noticed it, too.

"I have to go change. Miroku 'accidentally' spilled some sort of gunk on me," Inuyasha said, heading upstairs.

"Yeah, where's the bathroom?" Sango asked. Kagome pointed down the hallway.

"Ok, I'll be back in a minute," Sango said, heading down the hallway.

"You wanna sit down?" Kagome asked Miroku, pointing to the couch.

"Okay" Miroku replied, plopping down next to Kagome.

"Hey…uh…How's Inuyasha doing?" Miroku asked.

"He's doin' ok, I guess. Why?" Kagome answered, a bit confused.

"You two friends?" Miroku asked, avoiding her question.

"Yeah," Kagome replied "Should Inuyasha not be doing ok?" she asked, still wanting an answer.

"No, I figured he was fine, I just wanted to make sure. He gets into these funks sometimes, that's all" Miroku answered.

"Funks?" Kagome questioned.

"Yeah. It's been goin on since his folks died" Miroku answered, nonchalantly.

"When did they die?" Kagome asked.

"Hmm…I think it's been about a year now" Miroku answered, leaning back on the couch.

It occurred to Kagome that Miroku could be a good source of information. Maybe that was a little sneaky, but she knew Inuyasha didn't talk about his past much, so she might as well get it out of Miroku.

"So, what were his parents like?" Kagome asked, curiously.

"Hippies. They weren't even married" Miroku chuckled "They were really young when they had him. No one's ever said anything, but I think Inuyasha was the result of their 'experimenting'. They were some of the greatest people I've ever known, though."

"Were they really nice?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, yeah. You could tell them anything and they'd be ok with it. And even though they were sorta hippies, they worked really hard to support each other and Inuyasha" Miroku answered.

"Were you around them a lot?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, they lived in the same apartment building as us. Inuyasha's Mom used to make the greatest food in the world" Miroku replied, almost drooling, and remembering the great Italian food she used to cook .

Kagome remembered Inuyasha telling her he had learned to cook from his mom.

"How'd Inuyasha's parents die?" Kagome asked. Miroku shook his head.

"He's never told me. I asked him once and he changed the subject" Miroku sighed "Inuyasha doesn't like _talking_ about things".

Well, that explained a lot.

"Why not?" Kagome asked. She was getting more information than she had thought she would.

"I don't think he likes people worrying about him. He tries to look ok and deal with it by himself" Miroku explained. Kagome nodded.

They both became silent for a moment. Neither of them had realized until just then that they were talking about such personal matters of their friend.

"Listen, I'm just telling you this because…maybe you can help him a little. Not because I want to talk about my best friend behind his back" Miroku clarified.

"I know" Kagome replied.

A couple minutes later, Inuyasha came down the stairs, wearing a different long-sleeved shirt.

"Ok…To what do I owe this awkward silence?" Inuyasha asked, when Miroku and Kagome didn't say anything for about two minutes, after Inuyasha sat down. Miroku and Kagome glanced at eachother, further confusing poor Inuyasha.

Sango came out of the bathroom.

"Ok… Why are you all so quiet?" she asked, sitting between Kagome and Miroku. Inuyasha shrugged.

"They won't tell me" Inuyasha replied, suspiciously eyeing Kagome and Miroku.

"So, what did you guys do?" Kagome asked, changing the subject.

"We saw this really stupid movie" Sango said.

"It wasn't stupid! It was hilarious!" Inuyasha exclaimed. Miroku laughed, possibly agreeing with him.

"What was it?" Kagome asked.

"Blades of Glory" Miroku replied.

A.N.: I saw Blades of Glory and LOVED it! I know that's not in the theatres anymore, but it fit in.

"Oooooo, I wanna see that movie!" Kagome exclaimed. She thought the commercials looked hilarious.

"Good, 'cuz I'm seein' it again when I get the chance" Inuyasha said.

It didn't occur to anyone except Sango, that Inuyasha had just potentially offered to take Kagome to the movies.

"Well, I gotta go" Miroku said, getting up and brushing himself off.

A.N.: Incase there's any confusion about why Miroku can drive, I'm making him a year older than everyone else, so he's sixteen.

"Yeah, I'm headin' in early" Inuyasha said, getting up and going to his room. He wouldn't actually be going to sleep that early, but he didn't feel like sticking around anymore.

"Oh, Kagome, I'm so happy you're back!" Sango cried, hugging Kagome, after Inuyasha and Miroku were both gone.

"Me too!" Kagome said, hugging her back "Wanna watch a movie?" she asked, flipping through the payperview channels.

"Sure" Sango replied. They watched a chick flick for about an hour, then both fell asleep on the couch.

About five thirty in the morning, Inuyasha woke up. He never even set an alarm clock or anything. He just always woke up early for some reason. He had an unusual amount of energy, and he never needed too much sleep. That was a good thing, since he _couldn't_ sleep most of the time.

He walked downstairs and saw Kagome and Sango asleep on the couch in the living room. He laughed a little, and was surprised when he saw Sango blink awake.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, sleepily. Inuyasha didn't really like talking to Sango. She scared him. She seemed like one of those people who would want to touch his ears if he got too close to her and think "Oh, how cute!"

"Hm?" he asked, trying not to be loud enough to wake up Kagome.

"It's the middle of the night, what are you doing up?" she asked.

"Sango, its not the middle of the night, its just really early in the morning" Inuyasha explained.

Sango glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Crazy-ass! I don't believe you! Gettin' up this early in the summer" she muttered, nodding back off to sleep.

Inuyasha went into the kitchen to get breakfast started. He put some eggs on the stove and stuck some pieces of bread in the toaster.

He turned around to the cabinet to grab a couple plates, and almost dropped them.

"Souta! What are you doing up this early?" Inuyasha asked, catching his breath again. Nothing was particularly scary about Souta, but usually no one in that house got up before seven.

"It's my BIRTHDAY!" Souta exclaimed.

_Oh, crap!_ Inuyasha thought _Am I supposed to make this kid a cake?_

"Uh-huh," Inuyasha said "But why are you up at five thirty?"

"Why are _you_ up at five thirty?" Souta countered.

"I'm up this early every morning," Inuyasha replied.

"Why?" Souta asked, "None of us get up until at least seven when its summer time".

Inuyasha shrugged.

"I have a mental alarm clock," Inuyasha replied "Now, why are you up this early?"

"Because I was born at exactly five in the morning and I wanted to know the exact moment I would turn eleven. And I can't get back to sleep, and I was hungry," Souta answered. Inuyasha noticed now that he was eating a pop tart. This was pretty much the first time anyone in that house had beaten him to the kitchen.

"What's a mental alarm clock?" Souta asked. _This kid sure does ask a lot of questions_. Inuyasha thought.

"It means I just wake up at five thirty every morning," Inuyasha explained, even though that wasn't quite all there was to it.

"Why?" Souta pushed. Inuyasha was guessing Souta must've been pretty bored. He hadn't had an actual conversation with Inuyasha since he'd started working there.

"I used to _have_ to wake up at five thirty every morning," Inuyasha explained, catching the toast just as it came out of the toaster.

"Why?" Souta asked, yet again.

Inuyasha had gotten up that early for as long as he could remember. His parents had had a garden that they'd pick from. They'd take all the fruits and vegetables from it on Saturdays and bring them to the flea market to sell.

Most kids would've complained about having to get up that early, but Inuyasha had loved it. Watching the sun rise and the day start.

"I had to get to school really early," Inuyasha replied blankly. Souta nodded.

"That sucks," Souta sympathized.

Inuyasha knew if he told him about the garden, Souta would ask about his parents, and then his voice would tighten and he'd have to say his parents were dead, and then they'd both be quiet until everyone else got up or until one of them changed the subject.

By the time Inuyasha finished making breakfast, Souta had fallen back to sleep with his head on the counter. He laughed and looked at the clock. It was almost seven.

He shook Souta awake and asked if he wanted to get back to bed. Souta nodded and trudged back upstairs.

"Good morning!" Inuyasha said when Kagome and Sango stumbled in.

"Why are you so damn cheerful in the morning?" Sango asked, grumpily.

"Why are you so damn cranky in the morning?" Inuyasha countered.

"Because I'm a _normal_ person! Normal people are cranky in the morning! You should be, too!" Sango grumbled. Inuyasha shrugged and handed her a plate, pointing to the door that led to the dining room.

Kagome took a plate and followed. She looked pretty tired and hadn't said anything so far.

"Kagome? Is something wrong?" Sango asked her, once they were in the dining room. The rest of the family hadn't woken up yet. Sango remembered that Kagome used to be fairly awake in the morning. She used to be pretty damn cheerful, herself.

Kagome shook her head. She was thinking about what Miroku had said last night. What had he meant when he said Inuyasha got into "funks"?

"No, I'm just a little tired" Kagome lied. Today was a Saturday, so most of the family would probably get up a little late.

Inuyasha poked his head through the kitchen door.

"I'll be back in about an hour, k?" he said, and walked out.

"M'kay" Kagome replied and resumed eating her eggs.

"I wonder where he's going" Kagome thought out loud. She remembered last Saturday when she'd gotten home that Inuyasha had went out around that time to.

"You don't know?" Sango asked. Kagome shook her head.

"He goes to-

**Tune in next time to hear the end of Sango's sentence! That's a sucky cliffhanger, I know. This was kinda a sucky chapter, but it's longer than most of mine are. Please review if you want the next chapter! Yours semi-truly, **

**hippy-chicky.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, so I got rid of my old feedback. Keeping it is just too nerdy for my tastes. Deepest apologies. Not that I think any of you really care that much.

_For now, I will have to keep a tight lid on. Keep a tight lid on the same ugly emotions, so they cannot overwhelm me again- Yuki Sohma-Fruits Basket._

Inuyasha kneeled down in front of his parents' grave. He had placed some lilies at the head of the grave. He had wondered before whether they'd have wanted flowers, since they didn't always like things done the traditional way, but they _had_ liked flowers a lot.

He bent his had down, letting his bangs covering his eyes, and let a single tear trail down his face.

_**I'm sorry.**_

0000000000000Back at Kagome's House000000000000000

"He goes where?" Kagome cut Sango off, a bit overly-curious.

"Miroku says that he goes his parents' grave site every Saturday" Sango explained, a bit annoyed that Kagome had cut her off.

"That's so sad," Kagome said, sympathetically.

"I know. But it's been about a year since his folks passed away. I think he's ok now," Sango replied, nonchalantly.

A.N.: I just learned that word in my reading () class, and I just had to use it!

"Hey, I'm back!" Inuyasha came through the front door. He had never announced his leaving and entering before Kagome had come there. She seemed to be the only one who cared.

"M'kay!" Kagome yelled back.

He walked into the kitchen and started scrubbing the dishes. He had never thought he would be at this job for more than a few montsh. Just until he had enough money for a couple months rent, and had a better job.

But, he got used to being there. They didn't pay him much, but he had a sturdy place to sleep and eat in. He hadn't ever had that before. Even when he was living with his parents, he had been poor. It wasn't their fault, they had tried their best. But, they had been sleeping on the floor, living under a roof that leaked and looked as if it should have already collapsed, and skipped a couple meals here and there.

He had tried to keep up the rent after they had died. But his job didn't pay him enough to eat _and_ pay the rent. Besides, the home made him depressed. It was always empty and quiet, when he always felt like it should be filled with the scent of his mother's cooking or the sound of his father laughing for no good reason.

It wasn't that he had a cushy life at the Higurashis' household. His room wasn't anything special, he had to make his own meals, and he didn't get paid much. It wasn't anywhere near _cushy_, it was just_ sturdy._ He liked knowing that he always had a place to go, that he wouldn't be evicted, and that he would be able to eat that day.

Kagome and Sango ran upstairs to get dressed. They were almost the same size (Sango was a little smaller), so they could usually wear each other's clothes.

Kagome put on a pair of baggy jeans and a semi-baggy T-shirt. Sango put on similar clothes, since she didn't want to wear any of Kagome's nice clothes, incase she got a stain or something on them. Sango's family was nowhere near as rich as the Higurashis', and she always felt weird when she wore Kagome's fancy clothes. Kagome's Mother always said something like "You look so pretty when you wear _nice_ clothes, Sango!" Sango believed they were truly directed as compliments, but her mother was too stupid to say it in a nice way.

"Whoa" Sango said. Kagome almost always has something from Europe or Paris, or something along those lines on. She had never seen her in old jeans and a T-shirt before.

"What?" Kagome asked.

"Your wearing the same kind of clothes that _I_ wear" Sango replied.

"So?" Kagome asked. Anyone but Sango would have stopped right there.

"Kagome, your wearing normal clothes."

"What does that mean?"

"Your not wearing your usual schmancy clothes."

"Whatever" Kagome said back. She had been able to wear whatever type of clothes she wanted at her private school, since everyone there was spoiled and pampered. But, since she'd come back and had been hanging around Inuyasha a lot, she felt a little weird dressing like a princess. She remembered Miroku's words from that night "So these are the _stuck-up_ rich people your working for!" Inuyasha had said that he didn't say that about them, and she believed him, but she didn't want him to start thinking that. So, she tried to look just a little more commonplace.

And, she had realized how comfy baggy jeans were.

In truth, Inuyasha wouldn't have given a shit if she was wearing the same clothes as the queen of England, but Kagome didn't know that.

Kagome and Sango went downstairs.

"I have to leave in about two hours. I have to go watch Kohaku's baseball game" Sango said. Kagome nodded her head.

"Is he any good?" Kagome asked, without realizing the possible rudeness of it. Sango didn't take any offense, though.

"No, he sucks. But the rest of the team sucks worse, so he's technically their star player" Sango laughed.

"You must be so proud" Kagome chuckled.

"Oh, but, I am" Sango replied, sarcastically "Hey, I miss y'all's back yard, can we go see it again?"

"Sure" Kagome replied. Their backyard had a large garden in it that Kagome had planted. Sango had loved the garden. Kagome had a real knack for making things grow.

"What HAPPENED?" Sango asked when they got to the back. The garden wasn't hideous or anything. It didn't have wild weeds growing or anything.

The flowers had been mowed over, the grass was turning a little bit brown and wasn't growing in a lot of spots. The trees were perfectly trimmed. It wasn't hideous. It wasn't ugly. It was…nothing. Plain.

"I guess Inuyasha doesn't have much of a green thumb" Sango said.

"I don't think Inuyasha does the garden. We got some old dude that comes every Tuesday for that" Kagome said back. How could he do this to her garden?

"Can we go back inside? This is making me depressed" Sango said. She had always loved the garden. She almost would have rathered it been grown out and ugly, instead of just being…so plain. So…blah.

"Sure" Kagome replied. It was depressing to her, too.

0000000000000000000Later that night.0000000000000000000000

No one talked at dinner that night. Kikyo was unusually silent. Generally, she talked a lot about stupid things. Kikyo hardly ate anything, either. She actually brought her own plate in the kitchen. Kagome was wondering about how long it would take to restore her garden to it's original glory, and didn't notice.

Inuyasha was in the kitchen, doing the dishes, when he heard someone walk in. He couldn't see who it was, since his back was turned to the sink. He assumed it was Kagome, but she usually never came in that early.

"Hey, Inu" Kikyo said, setting her dish in the sink. Didn't she know it still had a load of food on it? And what right did she have to call him by a nickname? After all, she was still one of _them_.

Inuyasha remained silent. He had nothing to say to this girl.

"Aren't you gonna talk to me?" she asked, in a baby voice.

She reached up, since she was a good deal shorter than him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Inuyasha tensed up. What was she doing?

Kikyo felt him tense and laughed.

"Don't be afraid of wittle, wold, me," she said, still in a baby voice.

"What do you want?" he finally asked, confused and a little annoyed.

"I want you," she whispered into his ear.

**Ooo, what will Inuyasha do? Will he end up with Kikyo? Tune in next time to find out! Well, I guess you really can't "tune in" but whatever! **

**Yea…so, the next few chapters may come up back to back, because I've already written them all. I only ask for a couple reviews each chapter. Pwetty pwease? With sugar on top? Yours who wishes she had something better to do on this particular Monday night, **

**Kanomi-Fro.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's just that I've been kinda depressed lately, and my parents are basically getting mad at me for not being a little Miss Mary Fuckin Sunshine. So, now I'm pretending to be Mary Fuckin Sunshine again. How fucked up is that? I should be wearing big-ass black boots and have purple streaks in my hair! Sigh. If only, if only. **

**Well, here it is. Plz R&R. (see? I'm not even threatening you! I MUST be in bad spirits.)**

recap:

She reached up, since she was a good deal shorter than him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Inuyasha tensed up. What was she doing?

Kikyo felt him tense and laughed.

"Don't be afraid of wittle, wold, me" she said, still in a baby voice.

"What do you want?" he finally asked, confused and a little annoyed.

"I want you" she whispered, seductively into his ear.

"Uh-huh. What do you _really_ want, Kikyo?" he asked, even though he knew she wasn't kidding.

"Listen, you stupid hanyou. I'm _bored_, and you should be happy that a girl like me is interested in someone like you" Kikyo snapped, a bit angrily.

"_Someone like me?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, getting angry, and turning around. Her arms had fallen from his neck, but she put them back on.

"Come on! Even you aren't that stupid. You're a half-breed, _and_ a houseboy. Count your blessings that _I _want_ you_" she replied. He could've punched her (if she weren't a girl) at "hanyou".

"You wanna get me fired?" he asked, pushing her arms away.

"I won't tell anybody" she whispered, suggestively, and putting her arms back. He pushed them away again.

"I have no interest in you" he said coldly, taking a step back.

"Fine, you idiot. This was your only chance, though. You were lucky I had _any _interest in a _hanyou_" she snarled, walking out and storming up the stairs.

A.N.: I modeled Kikyo's character after Laurie from "That 70's show".

What was wrong with her? What made her think that he would "want her" after she treated him like shit?

A few minutes later, Kagome came in. She had finally noticed that Kikyo had left dinner early.

"Hey, Inuyasha" Kagome said, setting her plate down.

"Uh…hey" he said back. Why did he feel so uneasy around her? Why did he feel as if he had cheated on her? They weren't even together. Were they? No, of course not.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sensing his uneasiness. Aw, he couldn't lie to _her_.

"Your sister came onto me" he said, blushing. Kagome didn't seem surprised.

"Just today? Damn, I figured she'd have tried you the first day" Kagome said, laughing a little.

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Kikyo goes after anything with a stick in its pants" Kagome explained, making Inuyasha blush a little bit.

"I could figure that much by the way dresses" Inuyasha snorted. Kikyo was always wearing low-cut tops and SHORT skirts.

Kagome laughed.

"SOTA could figure that out by the way she dresses!" Kagome chuckled.

"So…Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think?" Kagome asked, curiously.

"Huh? What do I think about _what?_" he asked, unsure of what she meant.

"I mean…what do you believe? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Buddha?" she asked. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to get inside his head. Inuyasha thought for a moment.

"Well, I grew up with my folks talking about 'sun gods, and water goddesses, and karma, and chackas' and all sorts of other stuff I never understood. I guess I don't really believe in anything" he said, looking deep in thought.

"Don't you believe in God?" she asked.

She thought he needed something to believe in. Most people didn't _need_ anything to believe in, but she'd learned that he had a pretty tough life. Sometimes, having something to believe in helped a lot when you had a tough life.

"I dunno" he shrugged, still scrubbing the dishes.

"Don't you think God exists?" she pushed. She felt like one of those annoying religious people who always came to the town events and handed out little pamphlets about how to be a good person.

"I guess you can't prove that he doesn't exist" he replied nonchalantly.

"What about you?" he asked "What do you believe in?"

"I believe in God. I have to believe that something's there when I look at everyone around me" she replied.

Inuyasha snorted.

"Easy for you to say" he muttered. Was he implying that she was the only one with things to be grateful for?

"I'm not talking about the house and the money, idiot, I just mean the trees and the flowers and the people" she snapped. Most people wouldn't have revealed their philosophical beliefs with "idiot" in the same sentence.

"Trees and flowers. Gotchya" he said sarcastically, snapping his fingers.

"I'm serious!" she replied.

"I believe you" he said, still in an un-serious tone.

"Inuyasha…"

"I'm sorry, I'm just not the religious type" he said, shrugging.

"So you're an atheist?" Kagome asked. _Why is she asking me about this kind of stuff?_ Inuyasha wondered.

"I don't know" he replied, uneasily.

Kagome finally understood when she remembered Miroku's words: "Inuyasha doesn't like _talking_ about things".

Inuyasha didn't want to talk to her about his personal stuff. _That's ok, though. _She thought _Someday he will. _

"So, how'd you make that ramen tonight?" Kagome asked. She knew he liked to cook, so maybe he liked to talk about cooking.

Turns out, he _did_ like to talk about cooking. He talked for about ten minutes on how he made the ramen. Kagome liked that he was talking to her about that.

Most people would've thought it was just ramen he was talking about, but Kagome didn't. He liked cooking, so in a way, Kagome felt like he was telling her about himself. Even though she didn't understand all of what he was saying.

Inuyasha kinda liked it, too. He never got to talk much about cooking with anybody else. He never even told most people that he liked cooking, since a lot of guys thought it was "un-manly". In fact, he'd never even told Kagome. She just seemed to know, somehow. That was what he liked about her. She didn't judge or assume, she just _knew._

Inuyasha could tell she was trying to get to know him better. She _had_ to be if she was willing to listen to him talk about noodles for that long! So, he figured maybe he should return the favor.

"Do you…have any…hobbies….or anything?" he finally pushed out. He usually didn't ask people much about themselves, since he usually didn't want them asking him about himself, so he wasn't used to it.

Kagome smiled. She was happy that he was taking interest in her.

"Well, I really like to garden" she told him.

"Yeah? Did you make the backyard like it was before that old guy mowed over it?" Inuyasha asked. He remembered when the Higurashis had decided that the garden was getting overgrown, not long after he came to work there.

"Yup" she said proudly.

"Wow. Your pretty good" he complimented.

"Yeah. I wanna get it looking good again, though. Do you garden?" she asked.

"Naw, I have what you would call a black thumb" Inuaysha told her. Much to his parents' disappointment, he never could make things grow. He always forgot to water, or would cut the leaves wrong, or something.

Kagome nodded, almost sympathetically.

"Well, I'm heading in" Kagome said, yawning.

"Kay. G'night" Inuyasha said, as she walked out the door.

Kagome walked upstairs, smiling to herself. In a way, Inuyasha had opened up. She didn't want things to be closed up with them, and they were starting to open up a little bit. Just a little bit, but at the moment, that was enough.

"Inuyashaaaaaaaa!" he heard a female voice call. Inuyasha's ears perked up. Who was that? It wasn't Kagome or Ms. Higurashi. Oh, shit. It was _her._

**Oooo. Who is it? Well, we all know who it is. Hehe, oh well. TUNE IN NEXT TIME! **

**Sorry, I'm getting even busier, so I can't update much. New school and all, y'know. My locker's next to this fat bitch, and her and some of her friends totally snubbed me today. So, I'll be busy planning my "creative" revenge. MWA HA HA!**

**And, I will be trying to update this one frequently. I still like this idea a lot, and will continue with it. So, CONGRATS! This story has a small place in my oh, so busy schedule. Yours who is tired & must sleep, **

**Kanomi-Fro. **


	6. Chapter 6

**So, here it is. Yea…enjoy or whatever. **

"Inuyashaaaaaaa!" Kikyo called again.

Inuyasha figured he might as well get it over with, so he trudged upstairs and got to the attic string. He expected to go up to the attic and see her wearing sexy lingerie or be in her bra or something. He wouldn't put it past her. He really hadn't had that many girls come onto him before, considering he was a half-demon, but he still wasn't desperate, like she thought he would be.

He pulled down the attic string and walked up the ladder.

Her room was considerably nice for an attic. The walls were a deep purple, though you could hardly tell through all the posters on them, and her bed had a red-wood frame, with olive green satin (looking) sheets and pillows. She had about five green dressers, and what looked to be quite a large closet.

He was purely astonished when he saw her.

She wasn't wearing lingerie or in her underwear (and NO, she was not naked!). Her hair wasn't in one of it's usual high pony-tails, or with tacky temporary green streaks in it.

She wasn't even standing up. She was lying in her bed, and looked to be asleep.

"Inuyasha…" she mumbled sleepily. _Sleeptalking?_ Inuyasha wondered. No, she wasn't really asleep. She was up to something.

He quietly went back down the ladder, wondering for the first time why she would want to live in the attic.

Once he was back downstairs, he started heading to the living room to clean up a little bit. Sota was having his birthday party tomorrow, and his parents would probably be on him to clean it up.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" Kagome said when he stepped in.

"Wha- oh…hi" he mumbled. _Gawd, she scared me!_ he thought. He hadn't been expecting her to be in there.

"Wanna watch some TV?" Kagome asked. She, herself, was propped comfortably on the couch watching a "Friends" episode and eating from a big bowl of cheetos.

"Ok" he answered. Inuyasha didn't like cheetos, and he hated watching "Friends", but it still seemed better than more housework.

Kagome dropped a cheeto on the ground then picked it back up again and popped it into her mouth.

"Yuck!" he said, grossed out.

"What?" she asked while chewing the relatively clean cheeto.

"You ate it off the floor!" he replied.

"Well, that's why your supposed to clean our floors! So we can eat off them, just as God intended!" she joked. He laughed, instead of taking offense like Kagome thought he might've.

"Besides, are you germ-a-phobic or something?" she queried.

"Um…no…" he answered, obviously lying.

"You are! You're one of _them_!" she exclaimed, laughing.

They watched about ten minutes of a Chandler and Monica reminiscing of their first date, when Inuyasha noticed Kagome was looking a little down. Peaceful, yet down.

"Something wrong?" he asked her. She put a small smile on her face.

"I know its like three months away, but I'm worried about school starting" she said, looking away.

"Why?" he asked. Kagome seemed like she was the type who would probably be popular at school.

"Last time I was at Shikon middle school, everyone thought I was a stuck-up rich girl" she answered.

Inuyasha nodded.

"That's not the worst label in the world" Inuyasha tried to comfort. It was better than his label.

"Thanks. What's yours?" she asked.

"My what?" he asked.

"Your label" she answered, with questioning eyes. What was he supposed to tell her? He couldn't tell her what people really thought of him. He couldn't make her worry like that.

"I dunno, I don't really pay attention to that stuff," he lied, shrugging. Kagome nodded. He seemed like the type who wouldn't.

Inuyasha stayed for the rest of the episode, then told her he had to go finish cleaning up.

Kagome thought for a bit, after he left. _I dunno. I don't pay attention to that stuff._ she remembered him saying. She was beginning to understand Inuyasha. He didn't worry about the same petty things that she and so many other people their age did. He was so much older than the rest of them. Not physically, but mentally. Something had aged him. Something had put his youth to an end.

Maybe having his parents dead and living on his own at a young age made him like that. Or maybe it was just something else he hadn't told her. Or something he hadn't told anybody…

**So, I hope you enjoyed, tune in next time, and please review. **

**Nuff said. Yours who is SO SO happy that weekend has finally arrived, **

**Kanomi-Fro.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha. If I did, why the hell would I be on a website for something I'm actually writing?

So…here it is. Y'know, without the old feedback, my chapters are like a page shorter… I'm sorry I'm not doing the feedback anymore…was that bribing you to review? Because if it was, I'll start it again…

Anyways, please enjoy and review!

Kagome lay in bed, thinking for a while that night. She just couldn't sleep. Not that anything was really bothering her, it was just one of those nights where even if you were tired, sleeping just didn't seem like the correct option.

For a while, she thought about something stupid she'd seen on TV. Then she started thinking about school.

It was still a good ways off before it started, but she still found herself worrying. Last time, everyone had thought that she was a stuck up bitch. She'd been nothing but kind to the people around her and they still assumed such lies. Sango had always been beside her, luckily, but it had been very a depressing time. To feel like no matter what you did, people would always think of you a certain way. A feeling of hopelessness.

Inuyasha knew the same feeling, oh, too well. It was a bit different for him, though. People always assumed that Kagome thought she was better than they were. People always thought Inuyasha wasn't as good as they were. Even if he was perfectly nice to them, they treated him like dirt.

The ironic thing was that if Inuyasha hadn't known Kagome better, he would have probably been one of those people assuming that she would be assuming.

Quite a conundrum.

On another note, Kikyo, as well, was worried about school. She would never let on such things to others, but she had many fears. Putting out a tough, or in this case, bitchy, exterior hid her real feelings. She alternated between friends and groups every year. She never let on to others that she cared what they thought about her. She acted like she didn't think any of them wore worth a shit. So, most people avoided her, if at all possible. That was why she didn't have the same problems that Kagome did. Kikyo could wiggle her way into groups of punks, gothics, emos…she found a place. Nobody but the people in places beside her liked her, but that was good enough.

Kagome, on the other hand, was nothing but nice. People would think she was one of those rich people who put on a fake smile, a fake attitude, and pretended that she liked them, when her smiles were sincere.

You can't spell assume with out "you" and "ass" in it.

An hour or two later, around 12 am, Kagome had fallen asleep.

Inuyasha was half-asleep, letting random memories and craziness run through his mind as he drifted off.

One of these things had occurred two years ago.

_Flash Back_

_Inuyasha was walking to the ice cream place to meet his girlfriend. They had been going out for about three months, and Inuyasha really liked her. Her name was Ritsu. Things with them felt so…real. _

_He got into the ice cream place, and was dis-hearted to find her sitting there with another boy. 'She's just talking. It doesn't have to mean she's cheating…' Inuyasha thought hopefully. _

_She was laughing at something he had said. He had jet black hair and a pair of dark, chocolate eyes. His features were constructed perfectly. He wore a tight muscle T-shirt, and even though he had no muscle, he looked pretty damn cool. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy rise up in him. _

_Muscle T man leaned over and kissed her. Ritsu looked surprised at first, but then started kissing back. _

_She stopped when she saw Inuyasha standing there, fuming with anger. Then, Ritsu shrugged, made "shoo-shoo" sign with her hand, and continued kissing the boy. _

_Inuyasha was overtaken by anger at the moment. The hurt hadn't hit him yet. _

_He walked quickly up to them and slammed his fists down on the table. _

"_Hey, buddy, d' ya mind?" the guy asked, demandingly. _

_Inuyasha raised his fist and punched him square in the nose. Blood came dripping from the boy's nose. He was, apparently, too much of a sissy to fight back, and just sat there, sniveling in pain. _

_Inuyasha couldn't hit Ritsu with a clear conscience. _

"_Slut," he muttered, shaking his head and storming out. _

_His half- brother, Sesshomaru, was home visiting at the time. He was in college, working towards a medical degree, and came home to visit from time to time. Inuyasha never paid much attention to him, for reasons he couldn't even explain to himself. Sesshomaru just never seemed to be anywhere within his range of interest. _

_Sesshomaru wasn't really in anybody's range of interest. He was so cold. He never seemed to have any emotions or talk about himself. _

_When, Inuyasha arrived back home, Sesshomaru was the only one still awake. He sat in the living room, watching TV. _

"_Hey," he said, when Inuyasha came in. _

"_Yo," Inuyasha muttered, stomping past him and onto his own room. _

"_What's your deal? Did something happen?" Sesshomaru asked, almost sounding worried. He seemed different. Then, Inuyasha noticed the beer in his left hand. That explained it. _

_Inuyasha sat down next to him, and told him the whole story. He was his brother, after all. Maybe Inuyasa was looking for comfort, maybe he was waiting for Sesshomaru to tell him what an asshole the other guy was and what a slut Ritsu was, but whatever he was looking for from Sesshomaru by telling him what had happened, he didn't find it. _

_Sesshomaru chuckled. _

"_Tell me something, little brother," he said, still chuckling, "If you put a stick behind a camel's rump and a carrot in front of it's mouth, which direction do you think it will go?" _

"_And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha asked, angrily. How could he say that? How could he say that after Inuyasha had gone to him looking for comfort? _

"_Even a half-breed, such as yourself should know what it means," Sesshomaru said, taking another sip of his beer. _

_It wasn't as if these were the most hurtful words Inuyasha had ever heard. He had heard a lot worse… But, they weren't what he needed right then. If he hadn't been his brother, Inuyasha probably would have punched his lights out, like he had the other guy._

_Inuyasha simply got up and stomped back to his room, while Sesshomaru took a couple more sips of his beer. _

Inuyasha drifted off, with less than happy dreams.

Kikyo still lie away, reminiscing of several of her past boyfriends. She had never kept any of them for long. She jumped from one boy to another, and had crushed many hearts. It helped her self-esteem. It made her feel in control. She'd use different personalities with each of them. She'd even lie about what her real name was. Just to make them like her. Just so they wouldn't connect by simply speaking to eachother that the girl who kept bouncing around off different guys was her.

There had only been one that she had really liked. She had lied about her name, but she had been herself. She had her hair different then, she wore different clothes, she looked nothing like she did now. She had felt safe to be herself. She had still crushed him like the others, though. She didn't think it would really last. She didn't think that they would really be together. It wouldn't have lasted, anyhow. But, sometimes, she found herself still wondering if it would have.

Wondering about the things that could have been.

I know that's a bit short, but I want to keep this portion separate from my plans for the next chapter.

Ok, so I'm NOT doing any magor Kikyo bashing. I'm just not. She could be a very useful character.

Just curious…DO I SOUND SMART TO YOU? I like to think that I fall more around the wacky category. We had this stupid project 2day where we had to write something about everyone in our class, and like a zillion ppl said I was SMART. Wtf? You don't really have to answer, but it would be nice to know.

So, I have to go read more Fruits Basket now. I still love Inuyasha, but its too repetitive for me to interest myself with the manga. Fruits Basket, has CROSS DRESSING! Hahaha. Yours who is still faithful to the world's greatest ANIME,

Kanomi-Fro.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok, so here it is! I didn't get ANY reviews for my last chapter! What's up with THAT?!? More importantly, why should I give you MORE? –sigh- oh, well…R&R, please! **

**High School Daze! readers- It's all finished up, so catch the last chapter if you haven't yet! **

**After this chapter, I get to start REALLY writing this story again! Wh-hoo! I've just been prolonging pre-written chapters up to here, which isn't _near_ as fun. I mean, I could start writing the other chapters in advance, but that would just put me in the same predicament again. **

**Oh, and Inuyasha's big secret will be revealed in the next few chapters, btw. Well, one of them…It turns out he has a lot of big secrets…anyways, just using my suspense techniques there. : ) **

"_I know its probably not my place…and saying you __**want**__ to protect, doesn't mean you __**can**__. But, even so…if there is a way…to free everyone from their chains, so they can cry, and laugh, with all of their hearts…even if it means I'll be punished…__**I want to break the curse**__," Tohru Honda-Fruits Basket._

Kagome and Sota were both sick the following week. Sota had caught the flu-"Kami" knows where- and had, most likely, passed it on to Kagome.

This was to Kikyo's advantage. She had some things she needed to talk about with Inuyasha.

One night, after dinner, Kikyo brought her plate in again. Inuyasha heard her plate clank down on the counter from his spot in front of the sink, washing dishes.

"What now?" Inuyasha asked, sounding irritated. _AGAIN? When will this girl give up???_

"You…really are oblivious…aren't you?" Kikyo asked, walking towards him and lightly touching his shoulder.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked, completely proving her point.

"You…you _really_ don't know who I am?" she asked, sounding a little hurt, and taking her hand down.

"You're Kikyo Higurashi, the girl who, apparently, never gives up," Inuyasha replied, sarcastically.

Kikyo sighed, walking back out.

Inuyasha was crankier than usual, and much less wary of actions that could get him fired. He hadn't been able to sleep for the past couple days. Sota had been up, running to the bathroom and puking, throughout the nights, which inevitably was hard to sleep with. And Kagome had required tissue boxes, some vile mixture, and her medication that she had to take every two hours, constantly. (The medication's for the stupid flu, not in general) Inuyasha didn't blame either of them-they couldn't help it-but he hadn't gotten nearly enough rest that week.

Even hanyous and demons need their rest every now and then.

Kikyo went up to her room and plopped down on her bed.

_I can't expect him to care. I can't expect him to want me anymore. Of course, he doesn't want me anymore. But…even though, I look a little different…and I don't act the same…it would be nice if he knew who I was. _

_If he could __**remember**__ me, like I __**remember**__ him. _

After a few days, Kagome was in good health and back to her cheery self, and Sota wasn't quite recovered (possibly because he was younger), but he wasn't constantly puking anymore.

She woke up that morning, feeling happy. At first she didn't know why she felt happy, but then she remembered that she wasn't sick anymore!

It was a bit early to be up (in the summer), around seven 'o clock, but she felt unusually bright and perky.

She put on a red and blue, spaghetti-strap, cotton dress (perfect for summer) and quickly brushed through her hair.

She went downstairs and into the kitchen, to find Inuyasha (awake, of course) flipping pancakes on their stove.

"Hey," he said, when she came in.

"Hi," she said, sitting down at the counter.

"I thought you and Sango didn't believe in early rising," Inuyasha teased.

"Trust me, I've been in bed long enough," Kagome replied. Inuyasha chuckled.

"Hey, me, Miroku, and Sango are going to catch Blades of Glory again around two. Sango says she's just dying for you to come with us" he said, using his spatula to slap a couple pancakes on her plate.

"YES! I need an excuse to go out, I've been inside way too long!" Kagome exclaimed, happily skipping out into the dining room.

Inuyasha smiled. He liked how she was always so lively. There was no nothing-ness involved.

A couple hours later:

"WHAT?" Kikyo yelled at her parents.

"We just think that you were best off at your last boarding school, and it's worth another shot," Mr. Higurashi explained.

"Why can't I just go to public school, like Kagome?" Kikyo begged.

"Your not going to get straitened out at a public school. We love you and we just want what's best for you!" Ms. Higurashi cut in.

"Besides, this school starts later than normal schools do! You should be happy!" Mr. Higurashi tried to comfort. He couldn't stand seeing her so upset.

Kikyo gave a small smile, realizing his efforts, but still stormed out, leaving her parents a bit baffled that she had given up so easily. Truth was, she didn't have a whole lot of fight left in her. She had nothing to argue with. They had every reason to believe she was a bad kid who needed to be "straitened out".

She had to tell _him _everything before she left, though.

"Ready to go?" Inuyasha knocked on Kagome's door. It was going on two, which was when they were supposed to meet in the parking lot.

"Just a minute!" Kagome yelled back out. She was in front of the mirror, putting her hair right, since she was going in public. Why didn't it ever go strait?

Inuyasha sighed, back against the wall, waiting for her to hurry up.

"Ok, I'm ready!" she burst out the door and ran down the stairs. Inuyasha followed suit, heading down.

Luckily, the Higurashi only lived a few blocks away from the bus station. It didn't take very long to get to the theatre, but they were still late.

"What took you so long?" Miroku asked, as they walked up to the ticket counter.

"Ask her," Inuyasha said, pointing his head toward Kagome.

"What, you think I just wake up looking like this?" she joked, giving her hair a flip like a popular girl in a corny high-school movie. They all laughed, and got their tickets.

I'm not going to go into great detail about how watching the movie went, because nothing special really happened. Miroku reached for Sango's ass, Kagome's ass, and even accidentally reached for Inuyasha's ass. He was almost unconscious from bonks on the head, by the end of the night. Other than that, nothing really happened, besides for them laughing at the incredible hilarious-ness of the movie.

"Hey, want a ride home?" Miroku asked Kagome, wriggling his eyebrows a little bit.

"Eh…hehe…um….I haven't been out much in a long time, and I think I'd rather just take the bus back," Kagome answered. She considered that maybe Inuyasha didn't want to ride the bus back, but she didn't think about this until after she had answered. Plus, she doubted Inuyasha was the type to make her ride back with a pervert like that.

"Ok, but tell me if you ever need a ride," Miroku said, heading off with Sango. Sango was the only one who knew that Miroku wasn't intending to be perverted when he offered Kagome a ride, he was just very proud that he finally got his license, and quite boastful of his ability to "give rides".

Out in the parking lot:

"Inuyasha, sorry I didn't ask if you wanted to ride the bus," Kagome said, as they got on.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm a little surprised you wanted to," he said, stupidly.

"What does that mean?" Kagome asked, sounding offended, even though she knew very well that she was supposedly "the rich girl who didn't ride buses".

"Nothing," Inuyasha muttered, mentally smacking himself in the head for being so ignorant.

Kagome decided it best to change the subject. They each had subjects they'd rather not touch on. Inuyasha didn't want to talk about his dead parents; Kagome didn't want to talk about her money. Not that the two situations could hardly be compared to one another.

"So…what was the weirdest thing that happened when you were a kid?" Kagome asked.

"What is this, truth or dare?" Inuyasha asked, suspiciously. They both knew Inuyasha wouldn't interest himself in something so childish.

"No, I just wanna know a little more about you," Kagome answered.

Inuyasha considered. This seemed innocent enough.

"There was this one time…My dad got really high, even though he won't admit it, and got naked out on our porch and started singing 'I believe I can fly'," Inuyasha chuckled, "He was such a crazy-ass! I was only five at the time. My mom had to drag him inside-I mean, we _were_ on the fourth floor, and he _was_ singing a song about _flying_."

Kagome was sitting there cracking up. Before he even realized it, Inuyasha was cracking up to. Then, he stopped when he started thinking about his parents. Kagome realized this, even though he was trying not to show it.

She knew that what she was about to say would touch on a subject that Inuyasha didn't want to talk about, but she also realized that what she was about to say would touch on a subject that he _needed_ to talk about.

"Inuyasha…I know… it was hard……to just lose them like that," Kagome said, staring at him with sad eyes.

Inuyasha looked at her. She was about to cry. She seemed like the type who would cry easily. But, that was beside the point. She had a tear trailing down the side of her face.

She was crying…for him.

She _cared_ about _him_.

He owed a little bit to her. He owed it to her, to not shut her out.

"I guess. It's sort of… a lonely prospect," Inuyasha said, thoughtfully, "for the biggest people in your life to just…go away."

Kagome lightly placed her hand over his. It felt so cold.

"I…I'm not going anywhere," Kagome said, tears trailing down her face. Inuyasha smiled and gently wrapped his hand around her's.

They remained in such a manner the whole way home. Inuyasha hadn't had that kind of reassurance in a long time. That someone would be there the next day. He hadn't had anybody to rely on like that since his parents…

It was a nice feeling. Just to know that somebody was there. He had Miroku and some other friends at school, but it wasn't the same thing.

For the remainder of the summer, they grew closer. Not in a physical or necessarily romantic manner, but a connection grew after that night. A friendship.

**Ok, so there it is! I sincerely hope you liked it. And that you review. I'm still ultra-busy, but I'm still probably on the computer most nights, writing a little bit, because I really like writing this (& it's hard to maintain a social life when you're not in the same town as your school is)! So, I AM working on it and getting updates as fast as I can. So PLZ PLZ review. Just click the magic little button below! Yours who is currently watching a marathon of shows that will keep her up at night and paranoid during the day, **

**Kanomi-Fro.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha. If I did, why the hell would I be writing fanfics for it? HUH? HUH? ANSA ME, MISTA SMAWT-GUY! (Brooklyn accent…nice, right?)**

**Ok, I'm feeling ultra-generous today because I just got two Fruits Basket volumes (I didn't even know volume 18 was out yet! It was a pleasant surprise…) AND these big-ass boots from Hot Topic, AND this really long black jacket (or dress with a zipper…I'm not sure) that makes me look very cool. Speaking of Furuba, I finished both volumes already (I know, it's like a drug, though! I can't stop!), and Akito's a WOMAN! And Kureno's her fuck-buddy… Who knew? And he-whoops-I mean, she was recently trying to kill Rin. **

**I really do feel like a loser for being so obsessed with manga and so addicted to writing this thing. I keep telling myself it can't be helped (I go to school in a different town from where I live, so I rarely have time to socialize a hell of a whole lot with people who could be doing things with me on a Saturday night. Outside of school, of course). Oh, well…I'm rambling again…**

**So, please enjoy! And please review if you have time! **

**And the quote below is exact. I copied it from my own volume. I'm not exactly sure if it was Hatori or Shigure speaking, though.**

"_Which evil genius's idea was it to make morning so friggin' bright?" _

"_Probably the same evil genius who decided to have school the day after crazy after-parties." _

_-Paige and Alex-Degrassi. _

The first day of school.

The BIG day.

It was finally here.

Everyone dreads it over the summer, in those last few days of freedom.

The worst part about your first day of school is that you pretty much _have_ to be there. Getting sick and staying home isn't an option. So, you can't fake sick, either. You simply _have_ to go.

Kagome woke up to the sound of her alarm clock that morning.

One of those electronic alarm clocks, that makes annoying buzzing sounds.

She stumbled into her bathroom, annoyed at how early it was, without even turning her alarm clock off.

She had been up late the night before, too accustomed to her "summer bedtime", and was, therefore, quite sleepy. She knew she had to get up early for some reason, but couldn't remember the reason.

Mornings usually give us such blissful ignorance, if only for a moment.

Then Kagome remembered what day it was.

_School…nooo, I don't wanna! Oh, I'm being a big baby. It's just school. I shouldn't be so upset…_

Kagome quietly scolded herself for worrying so much about something so little.

She was grateful that she had packed her backpack and outfit the night before.

Organization always helps you feel reassured and safe.

She wore a pair of jeans and a blank red T-shirt. She just wanted to look commonplace. Maybe the "rich girl" rumors would be at an end after that year and a half.

At her boarding school, the "rich girl" rumors were common, but not looked down upon. Everyone there was rich. The kids there hadn't even been that stuck-up. She would have loved to stay, but she missed her family and knew they wanted her home.

So, she put on her clothes, brushed her hair and teeth, and tried swallowing her nervousness.

She still couldn't stomach any breakfast, though.

She thought about what a lucky bitch Kikyo was for being able to stay home for another two weeks.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Inuyasha was equally, if not more, nervous than Kagome.

He never looked forward to the beginning of school.

To start out with, who would? It's the beginning of _school. _Highschool, nonetheless!

But, then he had to add being a "half-breed" into the equation.

Of course, it wasn't as if everyone in the world was a hanyou hater. Much less, everyone in the school.

But, there were enough of them to make him feel like shit a lot of days.

He had enough friends. Miroku, Sango (sort of), Ichigo, Kyo, Rukia, Hanajima, and a few others he couldn't think of off-hand. Mostly the mis-fit kids.

He had enough people who were considerably nice to him. But, there were so many-too many-who just seemed to love making his life a living hell.

The good news, is that most people mature by highschool. Their minds open-up. They think independently, instead of following everybody else.

So, lots of people who may have hated him in grade-school and middle school had already made amends with him for just following the crowd.

But there are those who either don't mature that way, or truly think being a hanyou-hater is the way to go.

That was part of why he had sought after the house-person job when he saw it in the paper.

If he had taken the job at their local fast food place (he had narrowed it down to those two. The fast food place paid better, but if he got Higurashi's job, he wouldn't need much money, since he would have more free resources), he would have seen lots of kids from school most days, including the hanyou-haters.

Not to mention being totally humiliated by wearing one of those stupid uniforms and hats.

He was too prideful for his own damn good. That led to problems worse than refusing a fast food job.

Problems he wouldn't tell anyone else about. Problems that were hurting him. Problems that he _needed_ to tell someone else about.

Inuyasha smacked himself in the head. His mind was running in circles. He was being a baby.

School is no big deal. Everyone has to go. He was being stupid about the whole thing.

He had gotten up at three a.m. to get dressed and ready.

He felt better when he was organized, too. He had even made the Higurashis breakfast to preoccupy himself.

They never asked him to make breakfast on schooldays, out of understanding that he could be busy getting ready or finishing homework.

He gave himself a once-over in the mirror. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt, with a pair of old jeans. He looked presentable to society.

He narrowed all his thoughts down to two: _Grab your backpack and walk to school. _

But, soon his plans were narrowed down to one.

"Come on, just come with me! Don't be so stubborn!" Kagome pleaded. She was referring to Inuyasha's refusal to ride with her in the limousine to school.

"It's _fine_, Kagome. I'd rather walk," he insisted. He didn't really want to walk seven blocks, but he didn't feel comfortable imposing on them.

"Inuyasha, I know what you're thinking, and you're not a problem to take to school! You're at the same school as me, and I _know_ you don't want to walk nine blocks."

Instead of saying yes, he said, "I thought it was seven."

Kagome groaned, grabbing his arm and yanking him out the door. She really just wanted someone to squeeze when she got scared on the way to school. She always had a habit of holding onto arms when she got nervous. She couldn't squeeze Souta or Myoga. Inuyasha already knew this from the summer, when they had gone to see a scary movie, and she knew he would let her.

"Kagome, I don't want to"-

"Shutup," she demanded, squeezing his arm and pulling him into the car.

"Master Inuyasha, glad you're finally letting me take you to school," the driver said from the front.

"You've offered, before, Myoga?" Kagome questioned. (A.N.: I really do hate putting these things in the middle, but I feel the need to explain that this is a bigger version of Myoga. And more human-looking, somehow.)

"Yes, Miss Kagome, I offered several times last year, but Master Inuyasha always said he preferred walking."

Kagome bonked Inuyasha on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?" Inuyasha complained, rubbing his head.

"Baka!"

They remained silent for the rest of the ride.

Kagome tried to mentally sooth herself about school.

_It won't be so bad. It won't be so bad. _

Inuyasha mostly contemplated why Myoga always called him "Master" and offered him rides, when he, himself, was just another member of their help. Myoga didn't seem like the type of person who just had "natural good manners".

They approached the school.

Kagome had nearly squeezed a hole through Inuyasha's arm, but he hadn't complained, which was precisely why she had made him come along.

And, of course, because no friend of her's would have to walk to school.

It was just good manners. Especially when he lived with them.

She let her thoughts wonder to thoughts of good courtesy to, once again, try to distract herself from the hell she was approaching.

Inuyasha did the same, except he was still contemplating Myoga's good manners.

They anxiously approached the school, Kagome still squeezing Inuyasha's arm, and walked through the doors to their school.

What would this year lead to?

What would happen?

What was this going to be like?

Was this just going to be another crappy year, or maybe the best year yet?

They took their first steps into a year full of surprises, dangers, and secrets revealed.

'Tis Highschool, of course, these things are to be expected.

But Inuyasha was silently begging Kami, Buddha, Gu-Ru-whoever would listen- for _his_ secrets not to be revealed. Not to _her._

Little did he know, that was beyond his control.

**Baby cliffhanger, I'd say. So, please review to find out what happens next! **

**It feels so good to be getting on with this story! Up till now, I've just been gradually putting up my other pre-written chapters. **

**I know this chapter wasn't very interesting, sorry…I just needed to get **_**something**_** up. **

**Yours who is now watching Cameron's emotional melt-down on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", **

**Kanomi-Fro. **

**P.S. I worked on this for two and a half hours out of sheer boredom. So you can't say I don't love you. (well, I really **_**don't**_

"**love" you, but you get the point. Actually, I was just bored. Please discard this extra author's note from your interests.)**


	10. Chapter 10

"Inuyasha, you're not opening up

**Disclaimer: No, I do NOT own Inuyasha! I'm currently working with a secret mafia of chickens to gain the ownership papers so we can control Inuyasha, but we haven't succeeded yet…**

**The line of X's is to show a separation in segments of the story. Usually a change of place or time or POV. **

**So it's been forever since I updated, I know, I am so so sorry. I'm still sans life, of course, so I guess I have no excuse for not updating. Except that I have a job-like thing going on now (it's like a job, but with no pay 7.7), I've been writing my own original story and probably the best fic I'll ever write on my other account, I've been doing online counseling for other kids, and though my life hasn't been real busy, my computer time has been pretty booked up. Wow. First I take this fic off, and then it takes me forever to update. Old readers must hate me, if they're even still paying attention. **

**Anyways—read it, love it, and review if you want another chapter. **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Relief is a good feeling.

Kagome had been waiting for relief. Waiting to walk through the doors, thinking _It'll turn out fine. It always turns out fine. _

And, for the most part, it did turn out fine.

For the most part.

She had this unexplainable uneasiness lying in the back of her head.

School was good. It was almost _too_ good. It seemed unnatural. Especially on Inuyasha's part.

Now, we'll observe the first day, as not to confuse you.

Kagome and Inuyasha had different schedules, of course, which made her a little nervous. She had no arm to choke.

After they walked into the symbolic door of secrets and so forth, they went their separate ways. Inuyasha had to calm Kagome down a little bit and let her cut off his circulation one last time, but she got calm enough to go to her locker.

Kagome nervously went down the hall, trying to find her locker.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" a short plump woman asked her.

She had a teacher ID cart hanging around her neck.

"Um…yes?" she replied.

"You won't get your locker combinations until third period."

Kagome mentally smacked herself in the head. She didn't even have her combination, how could she put her stuff in her locker yet?

"Oooohhhhh, sorry!" Kagome said, sounding quite ditzy.

"It's fine, it's fine. You're the seventh one to try that this morning!" she chuckled.

"Well…thank you!" Kagome said, scurrying off to her next class, before she could embarrass herself more.

She tried to calm herself, walking down the hall, and scanning the door numbers. _27…25… 23…21! There's my class. _

She slowly walked into the room and picked a random empty desk.

"Hi," a deep monotone voice said next to her.

She turned her head to see a boy with messy black hair next to her. He wore a striped white and green button-down shirt and a pair of baggy jeans.

"Hey," she replied, surprised at the casualness in her voice.

"Excited about your first day here, Kagome?" he asked.

"How'd you know my name?" she asked, slightly contemplating the possibility of a stalker…

"It's written all over your folder," he said, nodding his head to her books on the desk. She had scribbled her name on her folder several times the previous day, out of sheer boredom and nervousness.

"Oh…well, how'd you know I was new…Tojo?" she asked, looking at _his_ books.

"It's written all over your face," he replied, chuckling.

Kagome blushed a little, and continued to make small talk with "Tojo".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha walked to his class, much faster than he had in previous years. He used to anxiously wander about, contemplating whether he might skip school that day—or, rather just assuring himself that if it came down to it, he _could_ skip school that day. Just to feel like you don't have to go through with something can lighten the pressure enough to make you feel strong enough to actually go through with it.

Inuyasha suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when a hand whooshed down in front of him and knocked his books to the ground.

"Glad to see you back, **mutt**," Koga said in front of him, his voice overflowing with disgust.

Inuyasha picked up his books, then looked strait back at Koga.

"You mind getting out of my way?" Inuyasha asked, no hint of fear in his voice.

"And what if I don't?" Koga retaliated. Inuyasha considered punching him to answer his question. Him and Koga were about equal matches. He had a good chance of beating him. But he wouldn't be in a good position, starting a fight on the first day. And he didn't particularly like going into unnecessary fights.

"You're not worth it," Inuyasha decided aloud, stepping aside and brushing past Koga.

"What was that, half-breed?" Koga snarled. Inuyasha, however, did not take the bait, and continued walking to his first class.

"Hmph! I'll show that mutt…" Koga muttered. This may or may not have been one of his empty threats.

In the few minutes before school, many of the more sociable kids in the class were sitting on top of the desks and chatting about their summers and new outfits in the front of the room. Inuyasha picked a desk near the back. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to people. He just wasn't fond of most of the people at his school. With his current social status, not many people wanted to talk to him, anyway. Some felt awkward around him, having been completely horrible to him in elementary and middle school, and couldn't talk to them and own up to what they used to be like. Some of them were still completely racist and horrible to him. And some pretended to be nice to him, because they either felt sorry for him, or were being nice just to be nice—the kind who would say "Oh, Inuyasha, I love your shirt! Is that new?" when he was wearing an ugly shirt that he'd had for years. He preferred the ones who were completely racist and horrible over _them_.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" Inuyasha's thoughts were disrupted, as always. He looked to his left to see Hikari, a brown-haired, green-eyed girl plopping down in the seat next to him. He'd never disliked Hikari, but she made him uncomfortable for some reason. Possibly that she always tried so hard to be nice to him. He didn't have a problem with people who were nice to him, it was just that she seemed to have to give it all that effort to be nice and cheerful to him. And it wasn't a kind of nice-ness where she seemed to be trying to be his good friend, just a polite sort of nice-ness when they saw one another.

"Hey, Hikari," he replied, having no doubt that she would make the next step in the conversation. She always found something to go on, even if she was the only one carrying on in a conversation.

"How was your summer?" she asked, with something that was similar to sincere curiosity.

"It was good," he replied, feeling that he didn't need to elaborate.

"Oh, that's _great!_ What'd you do?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I mostly hung around at my job, but it was fun."

"Ah, mkay…Did you meet anyone?" she asked.

"Not really. Well, Kagome," he replied, at first not thinking to mention her, as if _she_ was just a given.

"Oh, I remember Kagome! She's that rich girl, I heard she was coming back this year!" Hikari exclaimed. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose.

"You shouldn't think about people like that. Kagome's not just 'that rich girl', she has a personality and stuff, too." Inuyasha felt like he was acting high and mighty, which wasn't something he would like to credit himself on, but he despised labels with a passion.

"Oh, I'm sorry. She was nice and stuff, too, I remember. But I guess you two are pretty good friends, then…" Hikari said, looking a bit mischievous.

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied, a bit cryptically. He could tell by Hikari's face that she wanted details, and she was expecting a romance story of some sort. _Wouldn't that be sweet_, he thought dryly, _the rich girl ending up with the poor, orphaned, hanyou. _It would certainly make someone like Hikari go "aaawww", or simply leave her in delight at the gossip and scandal it would create. Nevertheless, he gave her no story of the sort. Even if anything suggestively romantic _had_ happened, he wouldn't be able to decipher for sure if it meant something, or not. And he wouldn't have told Hikari under any circumstances.

She was waiting for more of an answer than that.

"SO, how was _your_ summer?" he asked, changing the subject to something he knew would divert her attention.

"Oh, it was _great!_" she exclaimed. "I went to the beach, and I met this boy, and vacation was _great_, we went to Canada, and…"

She lost Inuyasha's interests at that point, but continued talking. He nodded every now and then, throwing in a "sounds fun" or "that's cool", not really paying attention. He knew she wouldn't notice, and would keep on talking even if she did.

He let his thoughts drift to what she had said. Inuyasha could always easily read what people were thinking, and what they meant, and now how they were feeling, and what they wanted. It was almost like a gift. He knew that she had immediately thought of the romantic potential when he had told her he met Kagome, and how scandalous it would have been, and how she would have squealed telling her friends that the rich girl was involved with the hanyou.

It could never happen, Inuyasha realized. Had he been hoping for anything like that? He wasn't quite sure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"OH MY GOD, I love that band, too!" Kagome squealed happily. Her and Hojo were hitting it off quite well, it seemed.

"Their lyrics are so deep," Hojo said, in agreement.

"KAGOOOOOME!" Sango waltzed into the classroom, wearing an orange shirt and a pair of rather right green overalls, and her hair in a high ponytail. Only she could get away with something that retro. Well, Sango could get away with nearly any fashion. She was skilled at scanning thrift shops and finding different styles like that.

"Hi, Sango!" Kagome said cheerfully. This first day was turning out better than Kagome had expected. She had already met someone really nice who she had things in common with!

Sango, however, did not seem to share her enthusiasm.

"We have things to talk about, come sit with me," she said briskly, grabbing Kagome by the collar of her shirt and pulling her along with her to the back of the room. She found a semi-secluded pair of seats and sat Kagome down next to her.

"Hey, we have our first class together!" Kagome happily realized.

"It's a good thing, too! What were you doing, flirting with _Hojo?_" Sango asked accusingly.

Kagome blinked a few times in confusion.

"I wasn't flirting…And what's so bad about Hojo, anyway?" Kagome asked, so innocently.

"I hear stuff about him. Someone told me he's already involved in gangs and drug-dealing. And he just gives off bad vibes." Sango took people's "vibes" very seriously. She trusted her intuition to a dangerous extent at times.

"You can't believe everything you hear," Kagome said defensively. She didn't want to believe that the nice guy she'd just met was some creep. He seemed too nice for that.

"Everyone knows he's a little shady. Besides that, you looked like you were flirting."

Kagome was offended, not only at the fact that Sango kept insisting something she herself had denied, but also at the fact that she was over-controlling. Sango was always like that to some extent, but it still bothered her.

"Hmph! I can flirt with whoever I want, thank you very much!" Kagome said, crossing her arms. Sango stared, dumbfounded.

"What about Inuyasha?" she asked, as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. Kagome was obviously caught off guard.

"Me and Inuyasha are just friends," Kagome insisted.

"But you like him," Sango pointed out.

"I do not!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Oh, come on! How can you say that when you two are _living together?!_" questioned a genuinely surprised Sango.

"It's not like that!" Kagome exclaimed defensively.

"Whatever. Just don't hang out with Hojo. He's not good people," Sango insisted.

"Students, get in your seats! It's time for class to start!" the teacher announced.

The rest of Kagome's morning classes went okay. She talked to a few other kids, and everyone was surprisingly nice, save for the few dirty looks she got. Oh well. Screw them. Apparently there were enough nice people at the school for her to ignore the rest.

Inuyasha's morning classes went by relatively good, as well. People were too busy being caught up in all the excitement to give him crap.

As for the morning, it was a good first day.

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**There. I updated! YAYZ! There's more on the first day coming in the next chapter. Inuyasha wears a lot of long sleeves, doesn't he? He just doesn't seem like a T-shirt person…**

**So, yeah, I'm back, I'm updating. Just so you know, though, I have a looot of stories going on right now, so reviews would really encourage me to get updates on faster. Anywho, this fic is back for good, so yayz for that! Yours who hopes you don't totally hate her, **

**Konomi-Fro.**


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